certification,
case management certification, group facilitator trainer, certified painter, public speaker training, God
Loving and people loving with a
spiritual disposition. Plan to live with my sister

in Kenosha on a temporary basis and remain a core member of FFUP.

Here is excerpt from 2011 recommendation by UW Law school student, Describing Mr Alexander's crime. In the letter below, he goes on to describe Darrick's remarkable accomplishments and clear readiness for parole:."We
believe Mr. Alexander is an excellent candidate for parole or a low deferment
with an endorsement to the Wisconsin Correctional Center System. Although this Commission's last
decision firmly endorsed off grounds assignment, Mr. Alexander has not received
such an assignment to date.

The Program Review
Committee has concisely described Mr. Alexander's offense as follows: "According to the transcripts, a fight
between the offender and the victim started in the house and was stopped
by some bystanders. The offender left the house while the victim was being held back. As the offender was walking down
the street, a witness told the
offender to watch out because the victim has a bottle and was coming toward
him. The offender turned around to face the victim and the stabbing
occurred." As previously acknowledged by
this Commission, Mr. Alexander has taken responsibility for his actions and has expressed the intent to live a
positive, crime free lifestyle. He
is also truly remorseful and seeks forgiveness from Robert Brantley, the Brantley
family, his own family, community and God."

I am a University of
Wisconsin law student working in the Legal Assistance for Institutionalized Persons (LAIP) program under the
supervision of Attorney Byron Lichstein.
This letter serves as an update to the letter dated November 22, 2010 that we wrote on behalf of Darrick Alexander for his
previous appearance before the Commission.
We believe Mr. Alexander is an excellent candidate for parole or a low
deferment with an endorsement to the Wisconsin Correctional Center System.
Although this Commission's last decision firmly endorsed off grounds
assignment, Mr. Alexander has not received such an assignment to date.

The Program Review
Committee has concisely described Mr. Alexander's offense as follows: "According to the transcripts, a fight
between the offender and the victim started in the house and was stopped
by some bystanders. The offender left the house while the victim was being held back. As the offender was walking down
the street, a witness told the
offender to watch out because the victim has a bottle and was coming toward
him. The offender turned around to face the victim and the stabbing
occurred." As previously acknowledged by
this Commission, Mr. Alexander has taken responsibility for his actions and has expressed the intent to live a
positive, crime free lifestyle. He
is also truly remorseful and seeks forgiveness from Robert Brantley, the Brantley
family, his own family, community and God.

Since his last hearing, Mr.
Alexander has continued to work at Badger State Industries (BSI)
as an upholsterer where he received a promotion to the highest pay level and
has continued to receive outstanding performance reviews with the highest
possible score. Throughout his time at Oakhill, Mr. Alexander has held
trusted positions, first as a

custodian
in social services, then as an office clerk at the school, and continuing at
his current
position at BSI. Additionally he has recently received his forklift driving

certification
and also completed the employability skills requirement for the pre-release module. Mr. Alexander thus has been exposed to many
different types of work and will be very
flexible in taking advantage of whatever work opportunities are available to
him upon release. His long term goal
is to start his own upholstery business as he has gained very valuable experience and in-depth knowledge of the industry through
his work at BSI. He has
begun writing a business plan in anticipation of starting this business. Overall,
Mr. Alexander's conduct over the last ten years has been commendable, in that he has used his time while incarcerated to mature
and improve himself. Not only has he attained
further education, completed AODA, completed numerous certifications, gained valuable vocational skills and experience
and excelled at his employment, but he has
also progressed personally. Upon first being incarcerated, Mr. Alexander was a young and confused kid who made poor life
decisions, was selfish and did not think about the consequences of his actions. After 26 years of personal
reflection and growth, Mr. Alexander has learned the hard way of the
errors of his thinking and actions as a youth.
In place of his youthful confusion and selfishness, Mr. Alexander has grown to become optimistic, patient, and now knows and
appreciates the importance of having respect
not only for other people but also for himself. He now embraces a more positive
lifestyle filled with love for his family, himself, and his relationship
with God.

Additionally,
Mr. Alexander's supervised release plan has evolved and become more concrete. Initially upon release, he plans to live
with his sister, Clarice, in Kenosha and to continue to strengthen his
family relationships with his mother and other siblings. He has also been in contact with Mr. John Givens from
Madison Urban Ministries (MUM) regarding
post-release support opportunities. Mr. Alexander is slated to enter two programs
offered through MUM upon release, Circles of Support and Voices Beyond Bars. The objective of Circles of Support, as you
may know, is to work with formerly incarcerated men and women who seek
help to successfully transition their lives from prison to the community. That
objective is met partially by connecting former inmates with positive role models in the community, known as Core Team Members.
Generally there are three to five
Core Team Members who meet with the newly released inmate once per week to address human resource concerns
with an emphasis on living a productive
crime free lifestyle. The second program, Voices Beyond Bards is a group of people that work together to provide a network for the newly released
inmates which addresses concern such
as transportation, housing, employment, the reduction of recidivism, and treatment needs to assure that the
newly released inmate has a reasonable transition from prison to the
community. Mr. Alexander is thankful that

upon release he will be able to focus his time and energy on himself
and establishing his place as a
productive member of society.

One example of his commitment to
giving back to the community can be seen through his participation in Warden Diedre Morgan's Inmate Panel. The Inmate
Panel involves a question and answer session with high school and
college students as well as human resource
agencies regarding topics such as the inner workings of prison, inmate histories, and descriptions of programs that are
available to inmates. Furthermore, Mr. Alexander
now appreciates the value of an education and looks forward to attaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in human relations in the
future. He knows that with freedom comes great responsibilities and hard work,
which he looks forward to upon his release.

This blog is a companion to our Parole web page. Wisconsin has 2887 prisoners who are eligible for parole but are denied year after year. We are part of a campaign to see that these people get a second chance. They are all long past their parole dates. We want to spread the message loud and clear that people DO Change. Below are some of the stories and profiles of the many people stuck in a broken and wasteful system.